How you can diet without counting the calories
IT’S THE QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY OF FOOD THAT MATTERS WHEN IT COMES TO SHIFTING WEIGHT, NEW RESEARCH CLAIMS. CAROLINE JONES REVEALS HOW YOU CAN DITCH CALORIE COUNTING BUT STILL LOSE THOSE EXCESS POUNDS
IF LIKE two-thirds of people you’ve been on a diet in the last 10 years, you’ll know that the gold standard advice for losing weight is to consume fewer calories. But now a study has found this might not be the most effective way of going about it.
Scientists at Tufts University in the US discovered that people who focused on reducing added sugar, refined carbs and highly processed foods while eating plenty of vegetables and wholefoods, lost significant amounts of weight over the course of a year.
They found the strategy worked for people whether they followed diets that were low in fat or low in carbs.
This supports the idea that diet quality, not quantity, is what helps people lose and manage their weight most effectively in the long run.
It’s not that calories don’t matter. Both groups of dieters in the study did end up consuming fewer calories, even though they weren’t targeting them. But the breakthrough came because they ate nutritious, healthy foods that satisfied their hunger.
“Of course calories still count,” agrees nutritionist Linda Foster, “but there are plenty of ways to cut them without obsessive number crunching.”
So while it’s good to have an idea about whether foods are high or low calorie, it’s probably a waste of time to add up every calorie that passes your lips. Careful counting can also lead to unhealthy behaviours – for example skipping breakfast and lunch to “save” the calories for a chocolate bar or bottle of wine later.
“Telling people to work out how many calories they eat and then cut back by around 500 calories a day – which is how most diets work – just makes them miserable and doesn’t encourage them to make healthy food choices,” says Linda.
“Instead, focusing on filling your diet with fresh, wholefoods, fruit and veg and eating less sugary, processed foods is a much better formula for shifting that excess weight – and keeping it off.”